Yob And Brewer Nd Study Purpose Is To Discover How Members O

Yob And Brewer Nd Study Purpose Is To Discover How Members Of An

Yob and Brewer (n.d.) study purpose is “to discover how members of an online university understand and practice the mission to provide a baseline of understandings for curriculum planning and mentoring student research projects and service activities” (p. 2). Although this sentence includes the central idea of the research, it does not have the fundamental requirements of a qualitative research purpose statement. Creswell (2009) mentioned that “a good qualitative purpose statement contains information about the central phenomenon explored in the study, the participants in the study, and the research site” (p. 112). Furthermore, the researcher recommends stating a general definition in the purpose of the study which is inexistent in this case.

Research question: This study does not have a clear research question. Instead, the researchers introduce their research approach by mentioning that “through a series of interviews conducted with faculty members, students, and alumni, several themes were identified” (Yob and Brewer, n.d., p. 2) as participants.

Site Selection: In contrast to the purpose of the study and research question, the authors clearly identify the site of their research. Yob and Brewer (n.d.) mentioned that “the site selected for the project is a comprehensive, regionally accredited, a for-profit institution originally founded in 1970 as a distance learning institution” (p. 9). Furthermore, the authors provide some additional details on their site as far as the number of students and the vulgarization of the positive social change within the institution.

Type of purposeful sampling: Yob and Brewer (n.d.)’s research sample includes faculty members, students, and alumni of the university chosen as the site of the study. These individuals have experience and knowledge of positive social change, and they work and study in the same environment (Ravitch and Carl, 2016). This purposeful sampling falls in the instrumental-use multiple-case sampling. Patton (2015) explained this option as a selection of “multiple cases of a phenomenon for the purpose of generating generalizable findings that can be used to inform changes in practices, programs, and policies” (p. 134). Further, Yob and Brewer's sampling fulfills the option 29, systematic qualitative evaluation reviews (Patton, 2015).

Alternative Data Collection: An alternative data collection could have been used by the researchers for this study. In fact, positive social change is a concept that applies in a similar manner to faculty members, students, and alumni. As such, this topic of interest can be different from one person to another depending on many factors that do not necessarily include the sample status in the university. Therefore, a single significant case would have been appropriate for this study with the purposeful sampling strategy number five: Teaching case.

Data Saturation Definition: According to Ravitch and Carl (2016), “data saturation refers to the point at which you are no longer finding new themes in your data” (p. 265). The lack of clarity of the research question in Yob and Brewer (n.d.)’s article does not help to evaluate their work regarding their achievement of data saturation. However, the researchers’ deep analysis of the data collected during different interviews presents some recurring patterns, showing that the point of data saturation was close to being reached. As a result, the researchers use the term “most participants” and “the vast majority of respondents” several times in their data analysis.

Paper For Above instruction

The study conducted by Yob and Brewer (n.d.) explores how members of an online university understand and practice their institutional mission, aiming to establish a baseline understanding that informs curriculum planning, mentoring, student research projects, and service activities. While the purpose of the study hints at the central phenomenon—the perception and enactment of the university's mission—it lacks explicit detail about the specific central phenomenon, the participants involved, and the research site, which are essential components of a robust qualitative purpose statement as outlined by Creswell (2009). Specifically, the purpose statement should clearly identify the central phenomenon of interest, such as "faculty, students, and alumni perceptions of the university’s social change initiatives," the participant groups, and the contextual setting of the research.

The research approach employed involved conducting interviews with faculty members, students, and alumni, from which themes were identified. Despite this method, the study does not specify a clear research question, which is a critical element in guiding qualitative inquiry. Developing a precise research question, such as “How do faculty, students, and alumni perceive and enact the university’s mission related to social change?” would enhance the clarity and focus of the study (Creswell, 2009).

The site for the study was explicitly identified as a comprehensive, regionally accredited, for-profit institution founded in 1970 as a distance learning provider. The site is described with relevant details, such as student population size and the institution's role in fostering social change, providing essential context that aligns with qualitative research standards (Yob & Brewer, n.d.). The choice of this site allows for an in-depth exploration of how institutional culture and mission impact the perceptions and behaviors of its members.

In terms of sampling strategy, Yob and Brewer utilized purposive sampling, selecting faculty, students, and alumni who possess experience and knowledge relevant to social change initiatives within this educational environment. This aligns with the instrumental case study approach aimed at understanding how a phenomenon operates across multiple cases (Patton, 2015). Such sampling ensures that the data collected is rich and relevant in addressing the research goals.

Although alternative data collection methods could have been employed, such as case studies focusing on individual experiences (teaching cases), the chosen approach of multiple interviews and thematic analysis enables the researchers to gather a broad perspective across diverse stakeholder groups. This enhances the transferability and generalizability of the findings, providing valuable insights into the social change process within the university context.

Data saturation, the point at which no new themes emerge, was indicated by the researchers through recurring patterns and frequent references to common themes across interviews (Ravitch & Carl, 2016). However, the lack of a clearly articulated research question somewhat diminishes the ability to precisely evaluate whether true data saturation was achieved. Nevertheless, the consistent themes identified suggest proximity to data saturation, reinforcing the validity of the findings.

In summary, the Yob and Brewer (n.d.) study offers a valuable exploration of social change within an online university setting, though its purpose and research questions would benefit from greater clarity and explicit articulation. Clearer definition of the phenomenon, systematic formulation of the research question, and detailed description of the sampling and data saturation processes would strengthen the research design and impact. Future studies could enhance this work by incorporating specific case studies or longitudinal designs to better understand the processes of social change over time within educational institutions.

References

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• Patton, M. Q. (2015). Qualitative research & evaluation methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2016). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
• Yob, I., & Brewer, P. (n.d.). Working toward the common good: An online university’s perspectives on social change, 1-25.
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